maybe i'll be the one to understand
by TheGleekFromDeathlyHallows
Summary: 'Oh, please. Like Sam would've been able to resist being able to help someone in his position.' Sam learns about Ryder's dyslexia from Finn, and decides to help the younger teen. Somewhat focus on the current Sam/Finn dynamic with a bit of Syder thrown in towards the end! (this story is me trying to fill some of the holes in sam's backstory this season, i suppose.)


**A/N: oh god i don't know if someone's written this idea out already? i've been busy and haven't been able to read much new glee fanfiction, but i've had this idea since it was announced that ryder has dyslexia, so i hope you guys enjoy!**

**disclaimer: i don't own anything pls don't sue**

* * *

Sam and Finn don't really talk much.

Sure, Sam'd welcomed Finn back when he first moved back to Lima and the two had shared a few conversations since then, but it was nothing like it had been when Sam had first returned to Lima to live with Finn and Kurt.

And yes, they do still live together.

In fact, it's only the two of them since Burt and Carole are up in Washington. Carole makes regular visits and Burt frequently video chats with Finn or Sam, but for the most part, the two boys are alone.

So, you'd think they talk quite a lot, wouldn't you?

Well, no.

Finn frequently sulks about the house about various things, but mostly about Rachel and Brody. When Mike and Mercedes were in town, they'd spent every minute of their stay at the Hudmel household.

Apart from going to visit their parents, of course.

Sam's usually holed up in his room, playing the X-BOX or he's out with Blaine or Sugar and Brittany or someone else in the Glee Club.

Besides, they're two guys; they don't need to communicate all that much. Dinner is pizza; Sam always goes to pick it up; Finn always has Hawaiian with extra pineapple; Sam, on the other hand, has a meat lovers pizza every time, though rarely, he sometimes has barbeque chicken, depending on what he had for lunch.

Lunch is lunch. Finn makes his before he heads to school, and hides out in Beiste's office with her. Sam buys his at school, and always makes sure to be extra nice to Miss Rose. Then, he goes and sits with the Glee kids; usually Marley and Ryder are off at another table whilst Jake doesn't come to lunch and Kitty sits with her fellow Cheerios. He usually sits with Blaine and Brittany, and by extension, Sugar; her and Brittany have become somewhat a double package.

Anyways; they don't talk. Finn and Sam, that is. Sometimes they mumble a good morning, and usually Finn has to yell for Sam to hurry up in the bathroom or he'll have to walk to school. Music fills the silence in the car, and Sam usually tries to change the station to some country channel. Needless to say, Finn simply slaps his hand away before continuing on with their routine.

So when Finn decides to pull Sam out of a class because he has some "important stuff" to talk to him about, Sam knows he has to listen.

It's been a busy week for Sam, actually. They'd had a major influx of applicants for the "Society of Superheroes" he and Blaine had set up at the beginning of the year; major influx meaning three applicants. Finn'd given them their new assignment – which, really, was just an assignment for the four new recruits.

Jake and Ryder's duet hadn't actually ended that well, and Sam could only imagine that Jake and Ryder were mirroring what Finn and Puck were like back in their sophomore year.

Kitty and Marley's had gone a whole lot better, and Sam didn't miss the way Marley started walking through the halls with her chin just that little bit higher, and that way her eyes twinkled; just like they had when she'd first joined Glee Club.

And apparently, it was up to him to get Blaine to stay at McKinley. He was still stuck on that, no matter how much Sugar and Brittany tried to help him come up with ideas to try and get the former-Warbler not to become a... a... an again-Warbler? Sam hadn't really figured out how to word that yet.

Er, that's getting off track; Finn'd pulled Sam out of class with some excuse and Sam knows he has to listen, even though he can't stop thinking about how to get Blaine to stay.

"What's up, dude?"

Finn appears his awkward self, but he's a lot more bumbling than usual. "Look... dude... I just–I just took Ryder to, um, see... um, what was it? This... special education... expert or, um, something."

Sam furrows his brows as Finn pauses, and there's a long, pregnant pause between the two. It's usually like this, Sam notes. Always silent.

"Why?" Sam asks, his mouth confusedly dry.

"Jake... I got Jake and Ryder to do something for me... er, together and um, Jake came to me and told me he thought Ryder might've had... some, um, learning difficulties." Finn smiles sheepishly as he scratches the back of his neck. "So... I took Ryder to see someone and, um..."

"Dyslexic, right?" Sam asks, biting his lip. That's why Finn broke their basic code of silence; because his new sophomore buddy needed help. It probably shouldn't have surprised Sam, but it did. Ryder wasn't the smartest tool in the box, but neither was Finn, and look at Finn; he had a... sort of career.

"Right!" Finn smiles again, looking somewhat proud of himself. "And man, I know that you have dyslexia too and I thought maybe you'd... be able to help Ryder. He's really down on himself, and I thought you'd be able to understand like nobody else can!"

Sam shrugs. "I'll talk to him, I guess."

* * *

Oh, please. Like Sam would've been able to resist being able to help someone in his position.

It's not like him and Ryder are friends; they joke around in the locker room and sing together, but that's basically the extent of their relationship. At least they're not strangers, Sam supposes. It'd been even more awkward.

But Sam doesn't know how to start the conversation. How do you start such a conversation? Sam is crappy with words, to put it lightly. And Ryder may be friendly, but man, he looks intimidating as hell.

Eventually, it's Ryder who comes to _him_.

He must've been staring.

"Dude, not to be rude or anything..." Ryder grins a little, making his intentions clear; he's just curious, that's all. "But why do you keep staring at me?"

Sam stutters anyway, despite Ryder's happy disposition. "I-I... Finn told me."

Ryder's grin drops straight away, and he gnaws on his lip, waiting for what Sam has to say next.

"He only told me because I'm... y'know, I'm dyslexic too." Sam laughs slightly, feeling the need to fill the awkward silence. "And he thought I'd be able to help you through it, man. I mean, I understand more than any specialist could. I guess. I dunno. Like, they'll help you, but I could... er, understand you." Sam grimaces slightly at his wording. "I just... I didn't really have anyone around after my parents took me to the specialist. All the kids thought I was weird because I needed a special teacher's aide in the class with me. No one... nobody understood me, yeah?"

Ryder smiles again, but only slightly. "Thanks, man." He slaps Sam on the shoulder before going to have his after-practice shower before Glee starts. Wait... does that make it a before-practice shower?

Like, it's after football practice... but before Glee practice...

... Damn, why can't English be an easy, straightforward subject?


End file.
